Escapism is something that we all seem to have sorely needed in this past year and half or so. The habit tends to pop up during periods of high stress or anxiety, and is basically when one has a strong want to be somewhere– real or not– where they can escape those feelings. With the Covid-19 pandemic being in full swing since early 2020, and with the subsequent shut down of the entire world, levels of stress and anxiety have done nothing but increase, leading so many people to look for ways to distract themselves from our desolate situation.
Escapism comes in pretty much any form that creates a strong distraction from daily life. This can include watching movies or TV, or any sort of virtual reality (like video games). A form that has recently become popular is roleplaying games like D&D campaigns. Possibly one of the oldest and most easily accessible forms of escapism is reading, and, although there has been some recent concern that the book is disappearing, the pandemic seems to have inspired a recent rise in popularity of the book.
Book sales have skyrocketed since the lockdown. Reading seems to have become a recently favored form of escapism, and who could blame them when there are so many different worlds to discover within the pages of a novel. Some of the best books I have ever read I have discovered because I was looking for an escape.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Cassandra Clare’s novel City of Bones and the series that falls into the more popular genre of escapism: fantasy. Clare plunges you into the supernatural underbelly of our own world, where werewolves, vampires, warlocks, and demons exist, as well as those who hunt them. The story follows 15-year-old Clary Fray, who struggles with her newfound identity, a strange new world, and the fact that her mother has mysteriously gone missing.
I was introduced to this novel in high school and I don’t think I had ever found myself falling into a new world as fast as I did with this book. This was the book and the series that really got me to fall in love with reading, and the first to show me what true escapism felt like. From page one, I was hooked. Clare had created a world in which the impossible was real, and where readers get to discover the hidden mysteries within along with Clary. There is nothing more escapist than that.
From London With Love by J K MacLaren
I don’t know how many people have heard of this one, but you can find this wonderfully entertaining story on Wattpad. Written by Wattpad user J K MacLaren, From London With Love transports you to the city of London, England in a whirlwind of lighthearted romance. The story follows the budding romance between Ophelia Prescott, and Andrew Hazelton-Scott as they agree to help each other win over their chosen love interests, insisting the chemistry between the two is nothing important at all.
When I discovered this book, I was in an anxious and stressed state myself. Though the plot is predictable, it seemed to be the exact thing I needed. I was immediately enthralled and it didn’t take long to get lost in the sights and the story. It was clever, funny, and full of swoon-worthy moments between the two main characters. This book allowed me to escape to a city I have always wanted to visit, and I found myself enraptured in the struggles of the two main characters. Honestly, I finished it one day, and about two days later, I went back to read it again.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
One of Margaret Atwood’s more popular books, The Handmaid’s Tale takes place in the near future in the Republic of Gilead (what was once the New England area) and follows Offred as she navigates an oppressive, totalitarian, patriarchal society and her life as a Handmaid– a woman whose only job is to help with the population crisis by being traded from home to home in the hopes she can produce a child.
I know it seems a strange pick, but this was one of the most escapist pieces I have ever read. Falling into another popular escapist genre–science fiction– The Handmaid’s Tale was a disturbingly immersive piece. It’s deep-rooted and darker themes drew me in and somehow it was this that helped me to escape. The problems of the main character, Offred, and the society she lived in, were so much larger than my own and had much more detrimental consequences, that they ended up taking all my focus.
RED INC. 